Kukla's Korner Hockey

Category: NHL-Teams

The Ilya Kovalchuk contract situation expected to reach a conclusion by 5 p.m. ET on Wednesday will instead continue until 5 p.m. ET Friday. The NHL and NHLPA mutually agreed to extend the deadline to accept or reject the latest contract Kovalchuk signed with the New Jersey Devils.

TORONTO - NEW YORK (Sept. 1, 2010) - The National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players’ Association today mutually agreed to extend the deadline by which the League must reach a decision on the contract between the New Jersey Devils and Ilya Kovalchuk until 5:00 p.m. ET Friday, Sept. 3.

“We have today been advised that the NHL and the NHLPA have agreed to extend until Friday the decision on whether to approve or reject the latest contract between Ilya Kovalchuk and the New Jersey Devils.

“We remain confident that the terms of this contract comply, in every respect, with the CBA and meet both the NHL’s concerns and the principles of Arbitrator Bloch’s decision. We remain optimistic that this extension will result in an approval of the contract and that Ilya Kovalchuk will remain a valuable member of the Devils for the balance of his career.

At a morning staff meeting, Greg Jamison told those gathered at HP Pavilion that he is stepping down as the CEO and president of Silicon Valley Sports and Entertainment while remaining part of the ownership group.

“For the time being, I think we’re set right now,” Yzerman said. “There’s spots on our roster open for competition, and from within the organization we want to give some of our younger players a chance to try to make this team. If through training camp and preseason we determine that some of our younger players aren’t ready for that role, we’ll look to add whether it’s from the remaining free agents or potentially players waived before the start of the season.”

Which brings us back to Ranger. Yzerman said he left the door open for the 25-year-old blue-liner, whose rights the Lightning retains but who must sign by Dec. 1 if he is to play this season.

“I’ve had some very good conversations with him,” Yzerman said. “He’s a really nice young man. I don’t want to speak publicly on his behalf, but he’s sorting out with what he wants to do with his hockey career and with his life….”

Unrestricted free-agent forward Bill Guerin confirmed in a text message to Sporting News that he’s skating with the Flyers in Philadelphia, although he said it’s nothing more than that right now.

“I was just in town,” Guerin wrote. “Not hoping for a tryout. Just skating.”

CSNPhilly.com’s Tim Panaccio reported that a tryout offer with the Flyers is a possibility, but Guerin’s agent tells Sporting News he’s optimistic he’ll get a contract done for Guerin rather than a tryout.

It’s time to take out the rubbish on the Marc Savard trade rumor. Until someone gets an NHL management name attached to a quote saying that the Bruins are making offers that include Savard, this “story” is literally unbelievable. That is, no one should believe it….

...Certainly I am willing to listen to other viewpoints, but let’s not let an anonymous August rumor engage us in rampant speculation when there are a lot of reasons not to believe the rumor’s veracity.

The ‘hometown boy’ is now back home; this time as an entrepreneur. Ronning, 44, has teamed up with former Easton executive Holmes Ghassemi, and Innovative Hockey’s Ron Kunisaki to launch Base Hockey Labs – a hockey stick design and manufacturing firm.

The company’s unique business model is based on the following premise: In the game of golf, it’s commonplace for golfers to spend hundreds of dollars to have their clubs custom fitted and sized - so, why not in hockey? Why don’t hockey players do the same for their sticks?

Talk of Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price “going on strike” appear to be a bit pre-mature.

In an interview with RDS, Price’s agent Gerry Johannson says that negotiations between the Canadiens and his client continue to progress, however he admits there is plenty of work to do before a deal can be announced. Johannson told RDS he hopes the next few days can be productive and his client will have a deal in hand, ready to start training camp.

Looking back, the telling sign was the deal inked by St. Louis defenceman Erik Johnson, the most coveted draft eligible player on the planet just four years ago.

Coming off his three-year entry level deal, all Johnson could squeeze out of the Blues was a two-year deal worth $2.6 million. To a working stiff, that’s the moon and more. But for an NHL player, it’s just above the NHL average, and to a league in which many teams have tried to lock up their best young players to long-term, lucrative deals at that point in their careers, it marked a sea change.

From there, it’s not that big of a jump to where we are now, with more than a dozen talented restricted free agents sitting on the sidelines without contracts as training camp looms. Years ago, this would have been controversial, with holdouts once the scourge of the league as players knew they had leverage and, particularly under the Bob Goodenow regime, weren’t afraid to use it. They could stay out, knowing that without a cap, the pressure was all on the team, which looked cheap if it couldn’t win without them.

Sure, I’ve been popping my head in the door sporadically around here since early August but it’s high time we kicked things off in proper fashion.

9/1/2010 officially marks the dawning of the JJ at KK era and the month of September officially means a new hockey season is right around the corner. Players are skating informally, training camps are just a few short weeks away and, before we know it, the puck will drop on the 2010-11 NHL season (returning balance to The Force and bringing puckheads everywhere back down from the ledge).

With this fresh start for me comes a fresh assignment, as I’ve been tasked not only to continue bringing you Tampa Bay Lightning news and opinion but also to chime in on all things happening throughout the Southeast Division.